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Destiny: How To Do The Vault of Glass (Part 2)

And welcome back to my two part VOG walkthrough. In this second half of my walkthrough for Destiny's first Raid, I will be picking up from directly after beating the Templar and going all the way to finishing the final boss, Atheon. So, follow me once more, tired and frustrated Raid team, back into the depths of Venus.

Like seriously. The Vex are drilling really deep into the planet, and you're about to see it. Once you have gotten your loot drop, and calmed down the guy who only got Ascendent materials.. or, calmed down yourself, there are two paths to choose from. The normal path is through the large open door where the Templar usually was during your time in the Templar's Well. But you're probably more interested in the other way, so I explain that instead. Over on the left side of the Well, head to the staircase/ramp area leading to one of the spawn "caves" for the Vex. In the wall to your right, there should be a hole in the corner wide enough for you to jump into. Head in there, then turn to your left and slide into the smaller hole. Creep along this short tunnel and then fall.

Yeah, you're gonna run into a lot of really big drops for the next little while. Keep falling, using a little bit of jumping energy every once in a while, and just continue to the bottom. Last one to the bottom… insert punishment or insult here. Now, when you DO reach the bottom, there is a little chest room you might encounter before jumping too deep into the Labyrinth. This is the Vault's Exotic chest, where you have the chance to earn a random Year One Exotic. Generally weapons. Not to make anyone jealous, but in my first ever NORMAL mode Vault run, I got Gjallarhorn out of it. And that's the story of my first Exotic in Destiny.

Once you've gotten you stuff, and finished complaining about probably getting Ascendent Shards, make the last jump and enter the Gorgon's Labyrinth. As the name implies, it's a labyrinth of sorts, filled with special Harpies called Gorgons. Again, very obvious. Gorgons are not an enemy that you just wanna run up to and open fire - unless you've got your whole Fireteam there and are trying to get the Grimoire card for killing one. Gorgons are extremely strong, and if you come within their line of vision, they will immediately make your whole team wipe in about five seconds. And if you kill one, the rest become stronger. So killing the Gorgons isn't an option. The only way to complete this part is to sneak your way past the Gorgons very, very carefully and make it through the exit.

Before I talk about the path to the exit, there are two other paths I should show first. The spot I'm using as a start is behind the first big rock, where you would spawn if you were returning to the Vault and had this as a checkpoint. The first path is where to go if you want to get back up to the Exotic chest. There's almost a staircase of rocks you can take to get back up to it, and then a hole that you jump into and then just follow to the chest room. The other chest, which only has more Ascendent materials, is shown in red. Once the Gorgon is out of sight, sprint for the chest room before the door closes. If you're spotted, the door will close.

Anyways, now for the correct path to the exit. With the large rock behind you, and the direction of the Exotic chest to your left, walk along the low ledge and follow the Gorgon into a more cave-like area. There should be another large rock you can climb up. Do that, but avoid double jumping; the Gorgons can hear that, and then you'll get spotted and have to restart. Go up to the top, and then, when there are no Gorgons around, jump to the next rock on the left, then onto the next massive rock. If you look towards the square pillar, there should be a medium sized rock to the right. Inside of that is the exit. Just sprint for it when the Gorgons aren't looking and run down that path. Once everyone's through, the next section will activate automatically.

What do I mean by activate? Why, a jumping puzzle of course! Just hit the platforms as they spawn, and then jump off towards the wall to the right and front of the starting area. You will need some jumping energy to survive, so be careful. The edge of the wall is quite narrow, so single file please. Keep heading along here, until you come up to a clearing. Once everyone finishes jumping, meet up and get yourself reloaded and ready.

Alright, you're almost there. Now it's time to learn one more VERY important mechanic through fighting the Gatekeeper. When you enter the Throne Room, the Gatekeeper will spawn in the centre of the room. There will be two sync plates, one on the left and one on the right, and one floating plate in between them. These sync plates are hooked up to two separate time gates. And filling the area are lots of yellow bar Ascendent Vex. Clear out the Vex, and then take care of the Gatekeeper. Once that is done, the gates can be opened by having a Guardian stand inside the sync plate. This time, you have to have someone go inside the gate while it's open and grab a Relic. Yeah, remember those from the last article? Yeah, you gotta get two of them.

The inside of the gates are two different versions of the Throne Room - Mars on the left, and Venus on the right. Inside the gate there will be a Hydra and some other Vex enemies. Kill the Hydra and then grab the Relic. Sprint out of the area, and then cleanse yourself of the blinding that comes from entering this time gate, along with anyone who might've gone in to help you kill some enemies. The people holding the gate open have to fight off Vex and, once again, Praetorians. If the Vex take the plate back, your ally will not be able to make it back until you reclaim that plate. Once you grab the first Relic and make it out, a Conflux will appear where the Gatekeeper first spawned. Have the current Relic holder and one other person head there to defend it from the waves of Minotaurs and other Vex so they don't get sacrificed to it. The other four should head over to the other gate that you haven't gone through yet, and get the other Relic.

Once both Relics have been obtained, everyone should go to the Conflux. Have your Relic holders camp the gates, as Ascendent Minotaurs will start coming through. Also watch out for the occasional Oracle above the gates. Once again, if someone drops a Relic, somebody must grab it within a few seconds or else everyone wipes. Defend the Conflux for a little longer, and when the enemies disappear, along with the Conflux, you will receive your loot drop.

Right after the loot drop, just wipe. It's easier for you because Atheon will be spawning almost on top of your team, and you can just regroup and get ready for the final fight. If you're reading this at the same time that you're playing, you might want to take a break and head to orbit.

The fight begins as soon as you begin the checkpoint. Atheon, Time's Conflux, will spawn at the top of the back staircase in the Throne Room. Your team will begin in front of the entrance. Take cover once Atheon spawns, as he will launch Minotaur-like blasts at your team. He will generally stay around the middle area. Don't bother trying to damage him right now - he's far too powerful to deal major damage. After firing down on your heads for a short time, Atheon will freeze on spot, and teleport three players into one of the two gates randomly.

This part becomes split into two teams: the inside team and the gate team. First, let's cover the gate team. Just like with the Gatekeeper, the gate team must stand on the sync plate to open the gate and get their allies back to the Vault. However, since the place Atheon chooses is random each time, the inside team will have to tell the gate team which planet they are on. Remember: Mars on left, Venus on right. While the gate team is keeping the time gate open, Atheon will send waves of special Harpies called Supplicants. These guys will try to suicide bomb the gate team, along with the normal Harpy laser shots, so take them out and keep your distance.

Now the inside team. This is again similar to the Gatekeeper phase. You will start up at the top of the stairs in your special version of the Throne Room. Beside you will spawn a Relic. Have one person - who knows what they're DOING - take the Relic and jump down, clearing out the adds in the room. The other two teammates should throw some grenades down on the adds to help out, then focus on the six Oracles that will spawn in the sky above the Guardians. The Relic holder should run back up to the "shooters" and cleanse them as they clear out Oracles and slowly progress to the gate that should be open. If you don't kill the Oracles fast enough, everyone will wipe.

When the last Oracle is killed, everyone on the team will recieve a buff called Time's Vengeance for 30 seconds. This buff gives the player a massive damage boost, allowing you to finally do something about Atheon. Once everyone is back out in the normal Vault, Atheon will begin to move again. Now is the time to deal some damage. The most used and possibly best spot to deal damage on Atheon from is the floating platform in between the time gates. Gjallarhorn is pretty decent against Atheon, but snipers can destroy his weak point, the glowing hole in the centre of his chest. The Relic holder should hold the cleanse shield up to defend against Atheon and the Supplicants. Remember to jump out of the bubble if you're using a rocket. When the timer reaches about 3 seconds, get everyone out of the middle and hide, then repeat when Atheon sends more people through. Keep repeating this cycle, and eventually you should beat Atheon.

And that concludes the Vault of Glass, along with this walkthrough. A few Hard mode notes to take into account now. Like any Hard mode, if you die, you cannot respawn until a wipe or you reach a new checkpoint. There will be more Gorgons in the Labyrinth on Hard mode. And lastly, Atheon will put a detaining bubble over the gate team every time, just like when you fight the Templar.

Now, if you do complete this Raid on Hard mode, at the Atheon drop you will have the chance to be blessed with the Vex Mythoclast, an Exotic fusion rifle that is a beast of a gun. It is my favourite gun in Destiny, and I am sad that it is no longer as strong as some other weapons. But should you get it, take it out for a test drive in the Crucible or on Patrol, trust me, you'll have a good time. Hope you had fun and got some good loot, and I'll see ya soon.